SCOTTISH LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has asked the World Health Organisation (WHO) to send experts to Scotland to investigate the drug deaths crisis.

In July, figures showed a record 1339 people in Scotland died from the effects of drugs during 2020, the highest figure per million residents in Europe and almost four times the rate in England and Wales.

But the Scottish Government had already declared a crisis, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon describing the situation as a “national disgrace”, by announcing £250 million of extra investment in the next five years and the appointment of a drugs policy minister, Angela Constance.

READ MORE: More than 700 drug deaths recorded in Scotland in first half of 2021

Provisional figures released last week showed 722 suspected drug deaths in the first six months of this year, a rate that could exceed the 2020 figure.

In a letter to the director-general of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Cole-Hamilton asked for a “taskforce of global experts on drug mortality” to be sent to Scotland to help ease the crisis.

He said: “Last year we posted a new grim record on drug deaths, triggering a ministerial reshuffle and the introduction of a dedicated post reporting directly to the First Minister.

“On her appointment, the new minister made it clear that first and foremost we just need to stop people dying. She had both my agreement and support for that ambition.

“But nine months later people continue to die at the same rate as before. New statistics indicate that last year’s terrible record will be matched.”

The Scottish Government has been calling for the powers required to create safe consumption rooms from Westminster for years. These rooms would provide those struggling with addiction with drugs and a safe place to take them.

But the facilities would require a waiver to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, to make sure staff and users would not be criminalised – a request which was rejected by the Home Office.

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The LibDem leader said: “The SNP claim that these deaths are a result of UK Government policy. That is a fallacy. If this were the fault of reserved powers or austerity, we would see the same rates of people dying on the streets of London as we see in Glasgow.

“We don’t. Glasgow is 10 times worse. This is a particularly Scottish problem, which now demands international attention.

“That is why this morning I have written to the director-general of the World Health Organisation, asking him to mobilise and send a taskforce of global experts on drug mortality to Scotland to help get this public health disaster under control.”